Turnpike News

PORTLAND, ME - The Maine Turnpike Authority is surveying Turnpike drivers to gather updated information for use in future highway planning. Temporary stop signs will be placed at interchanges in August to allow Turnpike workers to hand survey cards to cash patrons and E-ZPass customers. The cards contain 15 questions that can be answered quickly by checking boxes or entering simple information. Drivers are asked to complete the survey and mail the postage-paid, pre-addressed card to the Maine Turnpike Authority.

Maine Turnpike Authority spokesman Dan Paradee stated, “This is an origin and destination survey, allowing us to determine where Turnpike users begin and end their trip and what portion of their trip includes the Turnpike. We also want to learn how many people are in the vehicles, the travel patterns people have, toll plazas used, their frequency of travel, if they have E-ZPass or not and why, and their interest in having Open Road Tolling on the Maine Turnpike to what was recently introduced on I-95 at the Hampton toll plaza in New Hampshire.” Paradee explained that Open Road Tolling on the Maine Turnpike would allow E-ZPass customers to maintain highway speeds through specially equipped and dedicated lanes, eliminating the need for those customers to slow or stop and pass through the toll plaza structure where cash-paying customers must go.

Approximately 60,000 surveys will be distributed to drivers between August 3 and August 15. Survey results will provide valuable information to Turnpike engineers and planners in developing highway improvement projects. Paradee stated, “Planning for the future is an ongoing process here that is fueled by information collected through many sources, and we certainly appreciate the cooperation of drivers who take the few moments necessary to complete and return the survey cards to us.”

As a gesture of appreciation and to provide an incentive for drivers to complete and return the survey cards, the Turnpike will conduct a random drawing of 100 cards from all those completed and returned. The 100 chosen respondents whose cards are drawn will each receive a $25 Visa gift card. The drawing will take place a few weeks after the survey period ends, and winners will be notified by the end of September.

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